Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Cadence Design Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CDNS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

According to Zacks, "Cadence Design Systems, Inc. provides comprehensive software and other technology and offers design and methodology services for the product development requirements of the world's leading electronics companies. Cadence licenses its leading-edge electronic design automation software and hardware technology and provides a range of services to companies throughout the world to help optimize their product development processes. "

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Cadence Design Systems from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 4th. Northland Securities restated an outperform rating and issued a $27.50 target price on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Tuesday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 4th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Cadence Design Systems from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $25.15.

In related news, CEO Lip Bu Tan sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total transaction of $3,510,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 637,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,917,453.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP James J. Cowie sold 3,121 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.60, for a total transaction of $73,655.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 99,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,340,317.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark purchased a new stake in Cadence Design Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $0. Boston Advisors boosted its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 354.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Advisors now owns 563,350 shares of the company's stock worth $11,723,000 after buying an additional 439,400 shares during the last quarter. Capital One National Association boosted its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital One National Association now owns 94,469 shares of the company's stock worth $1,966,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. HL Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Cadence Design Systems during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,911,000. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 57 ,966 shares of the company's stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 9,882 shares during the last quarter.

Shares of Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) traded down 1.16% on Monday, reaching $23.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 535,268 shares. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.26 and a 200-day moving average of $21.65. The firm has a market cap of $7.05 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49. Cadence Design Systems has a 12 month low of $18.13 and a 12 month high of $23.89.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 25th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm had revenue of $448 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $444.73 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Cadence Design Systems will post $1.21 EPS for the current year.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc (NASDAQ:CDNS) develops system design enablement (SDE) solutions that are used to design whole electronics systems and integrated circuits (ICs) and electronic devices. The Company's SDE product offerings include electronic design automation (EDA), software, emulation and prototyping hardware, and two categories of intellectual property (IP) verification IP (VIP) and design IP.

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Source: Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) Raised to "Hold" at Zacks Investment Research

Connecting with Customers Through a Well-Designed Website Is Now Easy

Johor Bahru, Malaysia -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/29/2016 -- The news that Mountain Digital Agency, a high-end premium web design company in Johor Bahru, Malaysis, offers web designing, SEO and other web design-related services may gladden those who are on the look-out for such services. Mountain Digital Agency assertively says that they take an integrated approach for creating highly engaging digital website and for providing brand-focused creative solutions.

They proudly add that they, being a Johor Bahru Web Design company, can create websites for any type of business. Further, they stay on top of their industry by being experts in web design JB so they can create sites for every type of business. This means they do not limit their services to only one type of industry. They cater to all types of clients from all types of industries that are looking for JB web design services. They use industry's most advanced technology for hand-crafting unique designs and creating super high-grad e-looking websites. They point out that with their caching technology, the websites they create can achieve the fastest page load speed.

Mountain Digital Agency points out how a website acts as a window between a company and its customers. Therefore, they strive hard to offer high-quality web design Johor services and make this window not only accessible to customers of their clients but user-friendly as well.

Mountain Digital Agency adds that they, being a prominent player in the web design in Malaysia, believe that an effective website is one that should be easy to use, that showcases a variety of features and that is eye-catching. They assure their clients that having a website that speaks out about their brand essence and connects them to heavy traffic is no more a dream because they can make this dream come true.

They have 7 years of experience in this industry and this includes providing clients with eCommerce in Johor Bahru and SEO in Johor Bahru services. T hey are a team of dedicated individuals with a lot of training and experience in website designing and development. Their personnel will sit down with their clients to understand their brief. While they pitch in ideas suitable for their brief, they will make sure that the clients are with them at every stage of designing and developing their company websites.

They always focus on aspects such as increased traffic, user-friendliness and solid software, says Mountain Digital Agency. They also strive hard to go beyond the obvious and make a website that exceeds the expectations of their clients.

They are always guided by a few principles, the foremost among them being to accord top priority to client satisfaction. They assure their clients that they will provide timely and courteous customer service and will treat them with utmost dignity. Not only that, they take a very collaborative approach with their clients. They always strive for excellence and ensure to adopt a high level of integrity while offering their solutions and in their practice. So, they urge those who are looking for amazing websites to get in touch with them and get a free quote from them.

About Mountain Digital AgencyMountain Digital Agency, a high-end premium web design company in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, offers web designing, SEO and other web design-related services. They take an integrated approach for creating highly engaging digital website and for providing brand-focused creative solutions. They can create websites for any type of business and can offer SEO services also for increasing traffic to websites.

For Media Contact:Phone number: 018-7872039Email: Contact@Mountain.com.myUrl: http://www.mountain.com.my

Source: Connecting with Customers Through a Well-Designed Website Is Now Easy

Topeka Capital Markets Raises Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) Price Target to $27.00

Cadence Design Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CDNS) had its price objective raised by Topeka Capital Markets from $25.00 to $27.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Topeka Capital Markets currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CDNS. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Cadence Design Systems from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 1st. DA Davidson raised Cadence Design Systems from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 4th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Northland Securities cut their target price on Cadence Design Systems from $27.50 to $26.50 in a research note on Thursday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Cadence Design Systems from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised Cadence Design Systems from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a bu y rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $25.15.

In other news, VP James J. Cowie sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.69, for a total transaction of $737,425.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 131,666 shares in the company, valued at $2,987,501.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP James J. Cowie sold 3,121 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.60, for a total value of $73,655.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 99,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,340,317.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Other large investors have bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,239,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,377,000 after buying an additional 3,197,684 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cadence Design Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,412,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 3,711,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,228,000 after buying an additional 1,804,110 shares during the period. AJO LP acquired a new stake in Cadence Design Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,154,000. Finally, Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. boosted its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 139.3% in the fourth quarter. Old Mutual Global Investors UK Ltd. now owns 2,137,537 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,482,000 after buying an additional 1,244,237 shares during the period.

Shares of Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) traded down 0.64% during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 726,237 shares. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $23.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.65. Cadence Design Systems has a 12-month low of $18.13 and a 12-month high of $23.89. The company has a market cap of $7.08 billion and a P/E ratio of 28.64.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 25th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business had revenue of $448 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $444.73 million. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Cadence Design Systems will post $1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc (NASDAQ:CDNS) develops system design enablement (SDE) solutions that are used to design whole electronics systems and integrated circuits (ICs) and electronic devices. The Company's SDE product offerings include electronic design automation (EDA), software, emulation and prototyping hardware, and two categories of intellectual property (IP) verification IP (VIP) and design IP.

This story was originally published by sleekmoney (http://sleekmoney.com) and is the sole property of sleekmoney. If you are reading this article on another website, that means this article was illegally copied and re-published to this website in violation of U.S. and International copyright law. You can view the original version of this story at http://sleekmoney.com/topeka-capital-markets-raises-cadence-design-systems-inc-cdns-price-target-to-27-00/1145159/

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Source: Topeka Capital Markets Raises Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) Price Target to $27.00

Sourcehunt Design April: How About Adding Fedora to Your CV?

After taking a break in March, we are back with Sourcehunt Design for a little spring cleaning! This month, unlike before, we are going to focus solely on 2 major open source projects exclusively: Mozilla and Fedora.

Both projects are major players in the open source world, yet have some of the healthiest communities among open source projects, which leads us also to the design aspect here. Both projects are quite inclusive for new contributors to get involved.

Let's have a look.

Design at Mozilla has been usually an employee specific field for the Firefox creators. It has always been kind of unofficial for volunteers to do design work, and that most of the times happened when approached directly by employees.

However, this has changed in the recent months when the Community Design repo has been introduced. With its inception, both employees and volunteers from Mozilla projects could request design help with projects of theirs or chime in to help other contributors with their requests. I have recently wrote on my blog about the initiative also.

Let's have a look at this process and how you can get involved in a Mozilla project.

GitHub Repo

You can find the Mozilla Community Design repo on GitHub, part of the Mozilla organization. You will be greeted with an introduction on how the design processes work. A little below, you will find the template for filing issues, so all needed details are included properly when filing requests.

Make sure to check out the tutorial in case you stumble upon any issues (no pun intended).

However, we are going to focus here on contributing to design at Mozilla, not requesting design help, so let's have a look at a good example of a design issue from Mozilla, which I've personally completed recently. The Tranvision team is in need of a logo for their software, which is a translation memory web application created by the French Mozilla community and now maintained by both staff from Mozilla and volunteers.

Pascal Chevrel has created a very clear brief on how he envisions the logo, yet is also giving enough creative freedom to any designer who wants to take this on. Some back and forth discussions helped resolve the request and the logo can be seen live on the Tranvision website. It's that simple!

After you finish a request, chances are you will be asked for the final exported files. Feel free to link to them in the corresponding GitHub issue. However, in true open source fashion, push them also to a new folder in the repo itself (or create a pull request for it). Here is a good example of the Mozilla Netherlands logo I created.

Communications

Once a month, the Community Design group meets on Vidyo, Mozilla's organization-wide video-conferencing tool. Everyone is free to join, no matter if already contributed or not. This, in fact, is a very rewarding experience itself, as Mozilla's Creative Team is usually present as well. The meeting happens every second Thursday of the month, at 5:15 to 6PM UTC. You can find the meeting notes on the meeting's Etherpad.

Furthermore, there is a very helpful video if you need more help on getting involved in the GitHub repo. Feel free to also add more questions on the Mozilla Discourse if you are stuck at some point.

There is also a public Telegram group, where members chat.

Fedora Design

As a popular open source Linux-based operating system, designed to offer a secure and general purpose experience. Fedora is said to be the second-most commonly used Linux distribution, after Ubuntu. There are over a hundred distributions based on Fedora, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)which also sponsors the Fedora Project.Here is a broader overview of what Fedora stands for.

Unlike the rather new Community Design initiative at Mozilla, Fedora's Design processes are rather established for quite some time now. As one of the major Linux distributions, Fedora prides itself on being a FOSS distribution that focuses on innovation and close work with upstream Linux communities. This can be also seen on the Fedora Design team: design processes work completely in the open, with a transparent issue tracker, biweekly meetings, a wiki and similar.

However, it is to be noted that Fedora officially uses Free/ Open Source Software for their design needs as well. That means that instead of Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, GIMP or Inkscape is used for all design related tasks. This is not a strict requirement though in the beginning, as the Fedora Design team is welcoming new contributors and assists them to get involved. Eventually, you will use GIMP and/or Inkscape in this process, though. I myself am a contributor at the Fedora Design Team, which helped me improve my Inkscape skills as well. Don't be afraid to give it a try!

Fedora Account System (FAS)

The Fedora Account system is the organization-wide authentication system for everything Fedora. With a single account, you get access to all internal Fedora services and platforms (it's also based on free and open source software, so you don't need to worry about your privacy or security should you decided to disable your account at some point). Feel free to create one on the FAS website for the next steps.

Wiki

The first resource you should look up, is the Fedora Design Team wiki page. Here you will find everything you need to get started in various contribution areas, including web design, mockups, artworks stickers and more.

One of the most interesting projects (to me at least) is Fedora Badges. 'Badges' is a playful rewarding system, which recognizes active Fedora contributors for certain tasks. The more tasks you complete within the Fedora Project, the more Badges you receive.

That being said, designing badges is a great low entry contribution path to Fedora Design. If you want your designs to be part of the 2nd most used Linux distributions, you should probably start here, with Badges.

To kick off, check out the Badges Tracker which advises you where to go next. The design resources are also extremely helpful (I find myself constantly coming back here), however, you should have a look at the Badge style guide first, before you get your hands dirty.

Grab one of the badge templates and start composing your new artwork based on the requirements of the badge. For example, here is a proposal of a badge I designed, which will be given to Fedora contributors who are part of at least 2 groups in the community. Pandas in Black, you get the idea.

Communications

The Fedora Design Team holds biweekly meetings on freenode.net IRC on the #fedora-design channel at 1PM UTC. Feel free to pass by also when there is no meeting.

The mailing list is also often used, so make sure to join there as well.

Of Foxes & Hats

Contributing and leaving a mark on globally important projects like Mozilla or Fedora is definitely something to tell your mom about. Understandably, it's not as straightforward as other smaller open source projects we covered, but it's definitely worth it in the end.

If you are interested in giving it a try, feel free to reach out to me as well; I'd be happy to help!

What excites you most from these opportunities?

Source: Sourcehunt Design April: How About Adding Fedora to Your CV?

Is Your Website Mobile Friendly?

It's been about one year since Google released an algorithm update focused on mobile responsiveness. This means that businesses who do not have mobile friendly sites should be concerned as repercussions can include a negative impact to rankings and a drop in organic visits. So, while failure to have a mobile-friendly website can hinder your company's online presence, making sure your site is mobile friendly aligns your company with consumer preferences.

"Over 80% of internet users use smartphones to perform research and to make purchases", said Mechele Agbayani Mills, President and CEO of BBB Serving Central East Texas. "So basically, if you don't have a mobile friendly site, you're probably losing business."

What is Mobile Responsive Web Design?

Mobile responsive web design means that your website scales down to fit on a smartphone, tablet or other hand-held device. It's important for the user experience because the majority of searches are now conducted on mobile devices.  

How do check to see if my site is mobile-friendly?

Test your website by going to Google's Mobile Friendly Test Page (https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/). Enter your website URL into the Googlebot testing box, click "Analyze". You will almost immediately receive verification on whether or not your website is mobile-friendly along with an example of what your current website looks like on a mobile device.

For starters, Google suggests that to be considered mobile-friendly, websites should:

Avoid software that is not common on mobile devices, like Flash;

Use text that is readable without zooming;

Size content to the screen so users do not have to scroll horizontally or zoom;

Place links far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped.

If my site is not mobile friendly, how do I find a trustworthy web developer?

Just as with anyone you will potentially do business with, it's important to do your research. Go to bbb.org to view business profiles and company reviews before making your selections.

But even before looking for someone to create or upgrade your site, it's important to know what you want. Have an idea of what styles and color schemes you prefer. You may even bookmark some websites that you like.

Remember, you get what you pay for. Cheaper is not necessarily better. After you determine what your needs are, get several bids, then compare apples to apples. You can use BBB's Request-a-quote program to receive a quote from BBB Accredited Businesses. 

Review their portfolio. By viewing their work you will have a good idea of whether your taste/style and the web developer(s) you are considering will mesh.

Find out who owns the content. It is important to know who owns all of the intellectual property rights to your site. Keep in mind that if you will not own the design and content, you could experience difficulty if you decide to sell your business.

Find out how future changes will be handled. Will the developer be making all future updates? If so, make sure their rates are included in your contract. If the developer has designed a content management system (CMS) for your staff, make sure those employees are properly trained on how to use the system.

For additional resources on how to build a better business and to find out how to network with other businesses, go to bbb.org.

Mechele Mills is the President|CEO for the Better Business Bureau Serving Central East Texas. Prior to her role at BBB, she led and consulted organizations of all sizes, managing operations, sales marketing, and personnel for both the public and private sector. She holds a Bachelor's in Journalism/PR from the University of Texas at Tyler and a Master's in Business Administration from Baylor University.

 

Source: Is Your Website Mobile Friendly?

Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) Sees Large Volume Increase on Earnings Beat

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Cadence Design Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CDNS) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings, Marketbeat.com reports. 2,957,703 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 16% from the previous session's volume of 2,546,012 shares.The stock last traded at $23.43 and had previously closed at $23.80.

The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. The firm earned $448 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $444.73 million. The business's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CDNS. Topeka Capital Markets upped their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Investment Research cut Cadence Design Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 28th. DA Davidson upgraded Cadence Design Systems from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, February 4th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Cadence Design Systems from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised Cadence Design Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $25.15.

In related news, CEO Lip Bu Tan sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total value of $3,510,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 637,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,917,453.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP James J. Cowie sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.69, for a total value of $737,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 131,666 shares in the company, valued at $2,987,501.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Other hedge funds and institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 3,711,109 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,228,000 after buying an additional 1,804,110 shares during the period. HL Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $2,911,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $1,040,000. Capital One National Association raised its position in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital One National Association now owns 94,469 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,966,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. In c. raised its position in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 3,626.6% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 503,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,485,000 after buying an additional 490,320 shares during the period.

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.17 and a 200 day moving average of $21.62. The stock has a market cap of $7.19 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc (NASDAQ:CDNS) develops system design enablement (SDE) solutions that are used to design whole electronics systems and integrated circuits (ICs) and electronic devices. The Company's SDE product offerings include electronic design automation (EDA), software, emulation and prototyping hardware, and two categories of intellectual property (IP) verification IP (VIP) and design IP.

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Source: Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS) Sees Large Volume Increase on Earnings Beat

X2CRM Releases Version 6.0 of Its Open Source CRM Workflow Software for Small Business

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., April 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- X2Engine Inc, a global provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and cloud services, announces the release of X2CRM version 6.0 - its enterprise open source CRM software designed for small businesses.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160425/359775LOGO

What makes X2CRM 6.0 such a powerful release is in addition to its enterprise grade CRM capabilities, X2CRM also includes both a marketing workflow automation designer and a sales and service process designer in one CRM platform. With an incredibly rich user interface in both web and mobile apps, you can configure X2CRM for practically any CRM use.

X2CRM Version 6.0 Release Highlights:

X2CRM Adopts GNU AfferoGPL v3 - With version 6, all commercial X2CRM editions have now been combined into a single release and relicensed under the GNU Affero GPL v3 open source license. X2CRM is fully committed to providing the best open source CRM software. Having one open source edition will make it easier to add new features and also to share the full power of X2CRM as free and open software.  

WorkflowAutomation Designer - X2Workflow is a Marketing Automation Designer which allows marketers to track website visitors, capture web leads and create automated actions based on customer behaviors. X2Workflow is a clever and incredibly customizable business tool that places the power of X2CRM marketing, sales and service processes in the hands of customers, allowing them to fine tune their business and harness the abilities of the X2Engine platform. X2CRM version 6.0 sees some major updates to this module, including a new history execution view for individual workflows and a new view of all records touched by each stage of workflow.

Sales, Service and Customer Process Designer  - Being able to create flexible sales & service process funnels has always been a core part of X2CRM. There are situations where process funnels are needed for non-financial uses. With X2CRM 6.0 users can now create process funnels for any type of activity requiring procedures are followed closely. Examples are government, educational and internal corporate workflow processes.

Email Correspondence  - X2CRM can now monitor users email inboxes and automatically attach customer emails to CRM records. Marketing workflows can then be triggered create automated responses and alerts. In addition to tracking, alerting and logging when customer emails are opened, users can now add workflow automation triggers to automate responses, alerts or activate other actions within X2Workflow. Emails sent from automated marketing workflows can now activate new workflows when emails are opened by prospects.

User Interface Themes  - X2CRM 6.0 features a new login screen and lighter user experience. A new 'Night' theme has been added for users who prefer white text on black backgrounds.

X2Touch Mobile Android App- Users can now take photos, create, search, view and edit customer records in a new compact Android mobile application.

About X2CRMX2CRM | X2Engine, Inc. of Scotts Valley, California, is a global provider of open source Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and cloud services for small businesses. X2Engine was founded in 2011 by John Roberts a CRM entrepreneur with the mission to create an enterprise CRM platform with built in workflow and process automation designers. Translated into over fifteen languages, X2CRM today is one of the fastest growing open source CRM applications worldwide with over 35,000 deployments. Visit http://www.x2crm.com to learn more.

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To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/x2crm-releases-version-60-of-its-open-source-crm-workflow-software-for-small-business-300257424.html

SOURCE X2CRM | X2Engine Inc.

Related Links

http://www.x2crm.com

Source: X2CRM Releases Version 6.0 of Its Open Source CRM Workflow Software for Small Business

CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar Shares Technology Roadmap At Vectorworks Design Summit

Dr. Biplab Sarkar, newly appointed CEO of global design and BIM software developer Vectorworks, Inc., offered an inside look into Vectorworks® software's future development cycle to 600-plus attendees from 23 countries at the annual Vectorworks Design Summit in Chicago, Illinois, yesterday. 

Sarkar was welcomed and introduced by former CEO Sean Flaherty, who is now full-time chief strategy officer for Vectorworks.

Surrounded by visionaries from across the architecture, landscape and entertainment industries, Sarkar presented his keynote, "Leading the Future of Vectorworks Software," where he introduced several planned developments including the Resource Manager, Structural Member Objects, Irrigation Tools, Vectorworks Analytics, Vectorworks Cloud Services for All, Vectorworks Graphics Module (VGM) performance enhancements and Web View/Virtual Reality. 

"Our driving philosophy is that the customer comes first, especially with our development process. This approach to our technology life cycle delivers the tools they need to transform their workflows and dramatically impact the world of design," Sarkar said. "Today's presentation served as a transparent medium through which we revealed upcoming features in future releases of Vectorworks software, as well as how we intend to employ user feedback to shape ongoing development."

Sarkar and several members of the company's research and development team introduced the following key features during the keynote: 

A revamped, intuitive interface for accessing Vectorworks resources, the Resource Manager feature will enable direct browsing of resources from multiple library sources, including online libraries. Metadata tags will be attached to each resource to improve the searching, filtering and discovery of resources based on user criteria. ​

The Structural Member Objects will empower designers to more easily and accurately model common structural elements. Key components of the feature include the availability of Polyline modes for creating curved structural members, the capability for interactive editing in 3D views, enhanced 2D Top/Plan representations of structural objects and interactive manipulation of a network of structural elements.

With Vectorworks Analytics, the collected data from users who opt in to share data usage, will be used to improve the workspaces and interface of future lines of Vectorworks software. This will provide customized interface optimizations, improved data collection and analysis for diagnosing performance issues. 

Previously unavailable to everyone, the advancement of Vectorworks Cloud Services for All will allow all professionals, clients, collaborators and students to automatically view 3D scenes in the Nomad app and download files shared by other users. 

Significant performance improvements to the Vectorworks Graphics Module (VGM) will include faster, smoother and more accurate graphics during zoom, pan and animated Top/Plan view changes. In addition, the new VGM engine will allow faster interactive drawing operations. 

Web View/Virtual Reality will offer the ability to export designs from Vectorworks software to a web-based interface that works on essentially any hardware and operating system that supports a web browser. The feature will enable game-like controls and realistic walkthrough experiences of 3D models for improved communication with clients. 

The Vectorworks Design Summit concludes tomorrow, wrapping up three days of more than 30 Continuing Education opportunities, plus training, one-on-one tech support and an expo hall with headline sponsor Bluebeam® Software, Inc., along with a host of other exhibitors. 

Visit the website for Vectorworks Design Summit to learn more.

Source: CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar Shares Technology Roadmap At Vectorworks Design Summit

Software helps decrypt embryonic development

Model of a classical Turing network compared to the extended Turing networks analyzed with the software RDNets. Background: a self-organizing labyrinthine Turing pattern. Credit: Developmental Biology/Müller

When new life develops, a tiny ball of initially identical cells has to form the different body parts of the mature organism. Sixty years ago, Alan Turing proposed that this body patterning is achieved by two types of signaling molecules that spread in the developing tissues to create a spatial pattern. Scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society in Tübingen have now developed new mathematical approaches and software to systematically analyze realistic pattern forming networks that involve more than two molecules. The software can be used to analyze how patterns form during development and to create novel patterns for bioengineering approaches.

More than six decades ago, Alan Turing - the father of modern computer science, famous for decrypting messages from the Enigma machine during World War II - postulated a model explaining how the body is patterned during embryonic development. In the reaction-diffusion model that he proposed, two signaling molecules react with each other and spread through the embryo by diffusion. Turing showed mathematically that the two molecules can form spatial patterns in the embryo if one molecule moves faster than the other. The resulting high and low molecule concentrations could then provide the cells with information on how to differentiate and where to form different body parts. Although Turing's patterns remarkably resemble the patterns observed during normal development, Turing models have been limited to two mobile signaling molecules and could not take into account our current knowledge about the complex underlying gene regulatory networks, which have only been identified over the la st few decades after Turing's death.

Now, a paper extends Turing's original approach to the post-genomic era. To include the effect that gene regulatory networks have on pattern formation, a team led by Patrick Müller with scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory in Tübingen and the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona developed a new computational method to analyze and simulate the formation of patterns in reaction-diffusion networks with both mobile and immobile molecules. "Real-life patterning systems don´t consist of the simplified two-component networks used in classical Turing models. We wanted to analyze more complex systems and to create a user-friendly software that allows us to uncover new biologically relevant network designs", explains Luciano Marcon, first author of the study.

Software accelarates mathematical operations

The analysis of Turing models involves tedious mathematics, and it takes approximately two pages to analyze a given network by hand. Extending this approach to a systematic analysis with millions of possible networks would seem impossible. The scientists therefore used a modern computer algebra system and developed the software RDNets, which can perform the tedious mathematics automatically within a few minutes.

Screening millions of possible reaction-diffusion networks with their software, the scientists discovered that most of the newly identified patterning networks do not need to fulfill the condition of differential signal mobility that Turing postulated and that has been thought to be indispensable. Instead, patterns can also form when the signaling molecules are equally mobile or even with any combination of signal mobilities. "We have found that realistic reaction-diffusion systems follow mechanisms that are fundamentally different from the previous concepts", says Patrick Müller.

The scientists used their software to analyze several developmental systems, from the generation of progenitor tissues to the formation of fingers. In addition to its relevance for developmental biology, RDNets may also be useful for bioengineers. The software enables users to model many patterning processes and to design underlying gene regulatory circuits that can then be built synthetically. This should be of great use for tissue engineering approaches, where the software user can design regions of interest for the expression of differentiating factors to induce specific tissues in defined domains.

Analysis of biological networks

Systems biology focuses on the study of biochemical networks, where molecules are the nodes and the molecular interactions are the edges. The dynamics of these networks can be described by differential equations that represent the behavior of the molecules in space and time. There are two ways to study differential equations: either by finding an analytical solution to the equations, or by performing numerical simulations. Traditionally, the first approach is performed manually by mathematicians who use algebra to write down a closed-form solution. This solution describes the behavior of the system for all possible parameter values. The second approach is instead performed by computers and involves the execution of thousands of repetitive calculations with the aim to obtain a list of numerical values that describe the behavior of the system under specific conditions, i.e. for a set of representative parameter values. Therefore, analytical approaches are preferable because they pro vide an exhaustive description of the system, in contrast to numerical simulations which can only sample a subset of the parameter space. In practice, however, analytical approaches are limited to simple networks because the mathematics becomes too complicated as the size of the problem grows, and the manual solution of the equations becomes unfeasible.

The software RDNets was able to overcome this limitation by automating a linear stability analysis of partial differential equations with the aid of a computer algebra system. This novel approach of an automated high-throughput mathematical analysis can be used to screen for new biochemical Turing networks that can form self-organizing periodic patterns. The analysis can be constrained with qualitative and quantitative experimental data, which makes RDNets an unprecedented tool for users that aim to study developmental patterning networks or to design reaction-diffusion synthetic circuits. The software is available online and runs on most web browsers.

Explore further: Self-organized nanopatterns in multicomponent systems

More information: Luciano Marcon et al. High-throughput mathematical analysis identifies Turing networks for patterning with equally diffusing signals, eLife (2016). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.14022

Journal reference: eLife

Provided by: Max Planck Society

Source: Software helps decrypt embryonic development

CrowdReviews.com Announces the Rankings of the Best Web Design Companies

SANTA FE, NM--(Marketwired - April 26, 2016) - CrowdReviews.com, the leading online platform for business service reviews, has released the list of the best professional website design companies based on client reviews and experiences. The rankings consist of the top performing web design companies determined by an algorithm taking into consideration various elements including client reviews and engagement. CrowdReviews.com has opted to highlight the three top performing website design companies at the time of publication. Providers of web design services are urged to claim or create their profile on CrowdReviews.com and invite their customers to leave detailed and insightful client reviews.

The three top web design companies based on client reviews are:

1) ADPOVMedia

2) Cassandra Bryan Design

3) Outlook Studios

Web design companies can compete in the rankings by inviting their customers to leave their own reviews about the services provided to them. Visitors to CrowdReviews.com are able to leave their own reviews on vendors they have worked with and software solutions they have used in the past or actively use. In addition, employees, competitors, and other parties are invited to share their own experiences on services and software alike.

The placement of web design agencies within the rankings are primarily influenced by customer reviews, but are determined based on five major factors. These major factors include review strength, engagement strength, reviewer strength, profile strength, and verified status. Each of these factors are determined based on various sub-factors outlined on the following "How Do We Rank" page:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/how-do-we-rank

To view the list of the best web design companies based on user reviews, visit:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/ratings-of-best-web-design-companies-based-on-user-reviews

Those interested in joining CrowdReviews.com can visit the following page to register or claim their profile:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/#registration

About CrowdReviews.com

CrowdReviews.com is a crowdreviewing platform which ranks over 500 software categories and 200 service categories.

Source: CrowdReviews.com Announces the Rankings of the Best Web Design Companies

CrowdReviews.com Urges Buyers of Web Design Services to Select Reviewed Agencies

CrowdReviews.com Urges Buyers of Web Design Services to Select Reviewed Agencies

SOURCE: CrowdReviews.com

April 25, 2016 03:00 ET

SANTA FE, NM--(Marketwired - April 25, 2016) - CrowdReviews.com, the leading platform for business service reviews, has released a statement recommending buyers to consult online reviews submitted by real people prior to making a purchasing decision. As the field of web design grows and new companies extend their services to businesses, it will become increasingly important for buyers to consult reviews and references prior to hiring a web design company. CrowdReviews.com offers online reviews of web design companies directly on the profiles of the providers.

Prior to making a purchasing decision, CrowdReviews.com urges those looking to hire a web design agency to perform their due diligence in determining whether a web design company has ample experience in assisting businesses like their own. Through utilizing numerous review sources, buyers of web design solutions can find out about whether an agency is capable of working within strict guidelines, timelines, and with certain branding and design aesthetics. It is important for the buyer to find a web design company suited to designing the type of website that fits their brand image and their target audience.

CrowdReviews.com provides rankings of the best web design solutions based on a transparent algorithm which favors customer reviews above all other elements. Web design companies are invited to become a part of the rankings by creating or claiming their profile and inviting their customers to speak for them. Those satisfied or dissatisfied with their web design agency are urged to voice their opinions on the design services provided to them and the end result.

To view the rankings of the best web design agencies visit:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/ratings-of-best-web-design-companies-based-on-user-reviews

To review the algorithm and how it affects providers of web designers visit:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/how-do-we-rank

To register or claim a profile on CrowdReviews.com, please visit:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/#registration

About CrowdReviews.com

CrowdReviews.com is a crowdreviewing platform which ranks over 500 software categories and 200 service categories.

For a better experience using this site, please upgrade to a modern web browser.

Source: CrowdReviews.com Urges Buyers of Web Design Services to Select Reviewed Agencies

LG G5 Review: When innovation meets lazy design

The LG G5 is the most exciting smartphone in a long time. Instead of just the expected metal redesign and bumped up specs, LG chose to actually do something daring: try to reinvent the smartphone.

It was the first phone from a major manufacturer to feature two different rear facing cameras, the first mostly-metal phone to allow users to replace their batteries, and the first smartphone with the potential for multiple extension modules.

So. Much. Tech.

Some of the biggest names in tech are coming to TNW Conference in Amsterdam this May.

But potential and execution are two different things. While the G5 remains the most inventive smartphone of the last few years, spending more time with the device has, in part, been a sobering reminder that innovation doesn't always mean better.

And so LG has built the most divisive phone of the year so far.

Design

LG has made a metal phone, just like everyone else. Yay! Too bad it's so boring.

It's a metal rounded rectangle. Its most identifiable physical features are the dual camera hump and the clickable fingerprint sensor. Both of them protrude in an oddly wart-like manner.

The G5 doesn't look quite like an anything else out there, but still feels pretty generic.

Meanwhile, the detachable bottom leaves a tiny gap in t he casing that looks like someone took a machete to the phone's chin and then tried to put it back together. There must've been a better way to cover that seam.

The front end fares better. The way the top of the device slopes slightly away from you is a neat touch.  I preferred the concave curvature of the G4, because it made the top of the screen a little easier to tap, but hey who needs practicality right?

The top of the device slopes away from you. A nice touch, though not practical.

T he detachable portion looks better from the front too – there's a little lip that makes the transition from glass to metal seem the same as any other smartphone, and you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it.

The in-hand feel is okay – the G4's curvature and grippy pleather made it more comfortable to hold. But the worse part is that the G5 doesn't really feel like it's fully metal.

Though it's not because the phone is actually mostly plastic, like some have suggested, it feels slightly hollow in a way an iPhone 6s or HTC 10 never does.

I managed to scratch off some paint while it was just sitting in my bag with my keys. My fault, but also not a good sign.

Of course, LG hasn't always been known for building the most beautiful devices, or even for having a consistent design ethos. But at least they felt like they were trying to be unique.

The G5's lack of polish betrays the fact that this is the company's first metal phone; I actually would've preferred something more in line with the eccentric design of the V10 or the G Flex 2's extreme-but-useful curvature. I'd even argue that the G5 looks and feels less premium than the plastic-and-pleather G4.

But those modules!

Now of course some of those design choices are because of the detachable modules, or 'Friends' as LG calls them (*sighs*).

The most notable of these is the replaceable battery, which for the first time solves the problem of irreplaceable batteries on all-metal phones.

That's why it's unfortunate that LG doesn't include a replaceable battery with the G5 by default; it's a stand out feature that average consumers won't be bothered to use because they won't buy an extra battery. At least some carriers have had the initiative to include one, along with a dedicated charging cradle.

The gap between the detachable module and the rest of the phone i s a bit distracting.

Aside from the standard battery module, there are two other Friends currently available: a Hi-Fi Bang & Olufsen audio module complete with its own DAC, and a camera grip with extra buttons an additional 1,200 mAh battery. LG didn't make either available for this review.

LG says it's working with third party manufacturers to create more modules, but who knows whether any of those will actually come to fruition. I hope LG at least makes the Friends compatible with future G-series phones, but given the company's track record, that seems unlikely.

Still, at least having the option for customizability is pretty awesome, not to mention replacing your battery after its capacity drops in a year or two. That's something no other metal smartphone can claim.

Display woes

First, the good stuff. At 5.3 inches and QHD resolution, the display has a 577 ppi pixel density, and viewing angles are great, with no rainbowing from the IPS LCD panel.

It gets really bright too, which makes it fairly easy to read in sunlight – noticeably more than its predecessor. Contrast is also good for an LCD panel, though it's obviously nowhere as good as an OLED screen.

Unfortunately LG – a company that specializes in making displays – managed to make the worst display on a flagship phone this generation for a single reason: the color temperature is way too cold, with a distractingly blue-green hue.

Samsung Galaxy S7, Lg G5, Nexus 6P. The G5's display is drastically cold compared to almost any high end display nowadays.

LG has tended towards cooler displays than other manufacturers in the past, but I can't remember the last time I saw a panel so blatantly bluish compared to everything else out there. And unlike the HTC 10, which has a better panel to start,there's no tool to adjust the color saturation or color temperature.

It fares decently when your ambient color temperature is already fairly cool – the noon day sun, fluorescent lighting, or cloudy mornings – but even then is still noticeably bluer than most displays.

Basically, it feels like the G5 is never capable of making a true white color, even after a couple of weeks of using the phone. Maybe LG was just trying to be different, but it's just jarring. The display alone is enough for me to question recommending the phone.

Using it

Like Samsung, LG has redesigned its UI for its latest generation of devices. Unlike Samsung, I'm not sure it's for the better.

While I actually quite like Samsung's new light blue color scheme, LG is using this wireframe black-on-white look that kind of reminds me of a Mac from the 90s.

That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the aforementioned cool display. It makes the entire UI look worse. For example, the entire settings menu and notifications sheet take on this pale blue-gray look in use that just looks very meh.

The extensive white used in LG's new UI looks like more like a cool teal on the G5's screen.

The customizations are also all around less useful than Samsung's. There's no one-handed mode to be found, and LG has removed the ability to use apps in split screen or windows mode.

That might be because Google is baking those features into Android N, but I missed them during my review period, and LG isn't the fastest at issueing OS updates.

But – and this is an important 'but' – the software doesn't seem to slow down the phone at all. While my Samsung S7 feels no faster than my Nexus 6P, the G5 is slightly faster than either in side-by-side comparisons.

Whether switching apps, playing games, navigating maps, or scrolling through the Web, there seemed to be no way of significantly slowing the device down. And this is despite the fact that the G5 and S7 have identical processors, and that both of my review models came pre-loaded with AT&T software.

Also, one software tweak I do like: LG lets you pull down the notification sheet from the navigation bar, which makes the phone infinitely more useful on the go. Other manufacturers, take note.

Two cameras really are better than one

Here's one thing LG did really well: the G5 has the best camera setup of any smartphone, and it all comes down to that second camera. We've gotten used to the typical wide-angle lenses of our smartphones; the ultra wide-angle lens on the G5's second shooter allows you to capture much more of a scene.

The standard 16 megapixel cameraThe ultra wide-angle camera captures much more of the scene from the same spot. Just be careful; the field of view makes it easy to get your fin ger in the frame.

That means no wasting time with a panorama and bad stitching, no stepping back to fit the entirety of that building in your photo, no hurting your friend's feelings because you couldn't fit them in the group photo. Just toggle the wide-angle camera from the main shooting UI, and you're good to go.

It makes shooting with the G5 the most fun I've had using a smartphone camera in years. There's a reason professional photographers tend to carry multiple lenses around: they provide different perspective and can completely change the nature of a scene.

The G6's main shooter does a goo d job with macros with smooth bokeh.

Sure, the second shooter is 'only' 8 megapixels, there's a fair bit of fish-eye distortion, and the main camera is slightly worse than Samsung's new sensor and lens combo, but none of that really matters. The G5 is more versatile and the quality is more than good enough with either camera.

The rest of it is typical Android smartphone fare: RAW photos, manual controls, laser autofocus and 4K video. The UI is largely unchanged from the G4 and V10, but it didn't need much changing.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: pick up a G5, and you can take wide-angle pho tos that simply aren't possible on any other smartphone out there, at least not without inconvenient panorama stitching.

That alone makes the G5 a more versatile photography tool than anything else on the market. You can be assured other manufacturers will follow suit (looking at you, Apple).

Battery

Battery life was a resounding 'pretty decent'. I get a bit over 3 hours screen-on time in my typical heavy usage, and could mostly last until the night without an issue. Quick Charge 3.0 also means the battery can recharge very quickly, although it's worth noting for some reason LG only includes a Quick Charge 2.0 adapter in the box.

I don't think anyone will be complaining much about battery life overall, and it seems better than what I got from my G4 anyway.

But on the other hand, you're still settling for less: the S7 and HTC 10 offer bigger batteries with smaller screens, and that's been reflected in their excellent longevity so far, which are able to get in the 4+ hours of screen-on time range.

The replaceable battery is a compromise in quantity over flexibility.

And yet neither of those phones will let me pop in a second, fully charged battery within 30 seconds of the prior one dying. I thought it was one of those nice-to-have features I'd never actually use, it turns out I've used it every single time my G5 has run out of charge, and it's quickly become my second favorite thing about it, behind the camera.

Too bad the extra battery and charger isn't included by default, even if it would've brought up the price point a bit.

Potential, disappointment, and resignation

I've never had more trouble reviewing a device than with the G5.

It was supposed to be the holy grail for Android power users: all-metal design, expandable storage, top-notch specs and a removable battery. It even kept the IR blaster (which I still use, thank you very much).

I admire LG for being pretty much the only flagship manufacturer still delivering all the traditional power-user features. If you need all of those things, then the G5 is the phone for you.

Unfortunately for everyone else, the execution is so disappointing. While Samsung, HTC, Apple and and others seem to have refined their smartphone designs to something nearing perfection, the G5 feels distinctly like a work in progress. It's like LG was trying so hard to get ahead of the game that it forgot to get some of the basics right.

But lest this review end on too negative a note, let me clarify that I think the G5 is a good device that had the potential to be great somewhere in its design process. It just happens to have come out in a year with the toughest smartphone competition ever, and good isn't good enough.

Here's to hoping LG keeps all of the G5's best ideas and gets the rest right with the G6.

Read next: The FBI just cracked another iPhone without Apple's help

Source: LG G5 Review: When innovation meets lazy design

Microsoft reaffirms its core business of software

Microsoft, after a foray into consumer devices, is back at home as a software company.

The company still makes Surface tablets and a high-end laptop, Xbox game consoles and devices built by its faltering smartphone business.

But its soul, and its future, lies in software.

The Redmond company affirmed as much last week in the form of a 6,500-word treatise by the company's communications staff. In the posting, Microsoft argued that the technology that matters most to people probably isn't a device, but the software or other infrastructure that powers it.

"Notwithstanding the fact that it may appear self-serving for Microsoft to say that, I have to think that in the broad sweep of history, they're on the right side," said Merv Adrian, a vice president with researcher Gartner.

Of the 146 startups worldwide that investors have valued at $1 billion or more, 102 of them make software, Internet products or e-commerce businesses, according to data from The Wall Street Journal. Just six make hardware.

Software in the Internet era isn't a packaged product, an easily defined category of goods like bath mats, copper tubing or almonds, technology analysts say. It is increasingly a component of how people and businesses manage their own affairs, whether through calendar applications or online photo and file storage, and interact with the outside world, through messaging apps and social networks.

The notion that software is important is something of a cliché, with venture capitalist Marc Andreessen's mantra that software was "eating the world" now a groan-inducing piece of conventional wisdom at technology industry events.

Microsoft's own business shows the tug between the old and new, with quarterly earnings this week revealing Web-delivered software sales that continued to grow even as the company's traditional businesses shrank.

That trend is also shaking up the real world.

Brick-and-mortar stores, facing the prospect that such Internet sellers as Amazon.com will wipe them out, are feverishlytrying to put software to work modernizing their business.

Automakers, meanwhile, are seeding Silicon Valley with offices to better integrate technology into their vehicles, lest a software maker come up with the technology that renders their decades-old manufacturing businesses obsolete.

Even in the mobile market, Google's wildly successful services business has pulled everyone from wireless network builders to smartphone makers to try to get a slice of the business by refashioning themselves as providers of software services.

For Microsoft, a company founded 41 years ago as a designer of programs that made the first minicomputers usable, the notion that software is important is an old refrain.

It was Microsoft, through a famous deal to license, and not sell, its operating system to IBM, that set the course for hardware-agnostic software companies to reap bigger profits than the hardware makers their programs lived on.

"In some ways, nothing has changed," said Michael Cusumano, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management who has closely tracked Microsoft for decades.

But the technology industry goes in cycles, bouncing from hot topic to hot topic, and Microsoft chased some of those trends.

Unseated from its perch as the world's largest technology company after Apple struck gold with the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Microsoft responded by wiring hardware into the company's mission statement.

In July 2013, Steve Ballmer circulated a memo announcing Microsoft's ambition to "create a family of devices."

The company by then had pushed hard to sell the world on Zune, the iPod killer that couldn't, and was ramping up its Surface tablet computer line, a challenge to the iPad.

That same month, Microsoft's board of directors authorized Ballmer to begin negotiations to acquire Nokia's mobile-phone business, a bid to tie the design of smartphone hardware with software along the lines of the Apple model.

Under Satya Nadella, who succeeded Ballmer in 2014, Microsoft has narrowed its focus. In an interview last year, he recounted his thought process when he took the job.

"Look, what's the soul of our company, what is the core of our company, what's our mission?" Nadella asked. Microsoft, he determined, should pursue things that are novel, "something that we can do uniquely … something that customers will value."

Nadella has since dumped most of the failing phone business, killed an iPad-competitor in the Surface family, and doubled down on Microsoft's productivity tools and business software. Microsoft executives are more likely to bring up the company's artificial-intelligence efforts, or its bid to link PC and console video gaming, than the hardware people use to access those programs.

The company still builds plenty of real-world things. But, as with the data centers that power Microsoft's growing Web-delivered software business, consumers might not see them.

"For many years, we've been moving into a world where you don't just sell packaged things," said Cusumano, of MIT. "You access software-driven services, or digital content via the Web, through multiple devices."

After its detour into hardware, Microsoft has an "increased recognition" of this new world, he added.

Source: Microsoft reaffirms its core business of software

LG G5 Review: When innovation meets lazy design

The LG G5 is the most exciting smartphone in a long time. Instead of just the expected metal redesign and bumped up specs, LG chose to actually do something daring: try to reinvent the smartphone.

It was the first phone from a major manufacturer to feature two different rear facing cameras, the first mostly-metal phone to allow users to replace their batteries, and the first smartphone with the potential for multiple extension modules.

F**k it, we'll do it live!

Our biggest ever edition of TNW Conference is fast approaching! Join 10,000 tech leaders this May in Amsterdam.

But potential and execution are two different things. While the G5 remains the most inventive smartphone of the last few years, spending more time with the device has, in part, been a sobering reminder that innovation doesn't always mean better.

And so LG has built the most divisive phone of the year so far.

Design

LG has made a metal phone, just like everyone else. Yay! Too bad it's so boring.

It's a metal rounded rectangle. Its most identifiable physical features are the dual camera hump and the clickable fingerprint sensor. Both of them protrude in an oddly wart-like manner.

The G5 doesn't look quite like an anything else out there, but still feels pretty generic.

Meanwhile, the detachable bottom leaves a tiny gap in t he casing that looks like someone took a machete to the phone's chin and then tried to put it back together. There must've been a better way to cover that seam.

The front end fares better. The way the top of the device slopes slightly away from you is a neat touch.  I preferred the concave curvature of the G4, because it made the top of the screen a little easier to tap, but hey who needs practicality right?

The top of the device slopes away from you. A nice touch, though not practical.

T he detachable portion looks better from the front too – there's a little lip that makes the transition from glass to metal seem the same as any other smartphone, and you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it.

The in-hand feel is okay – the G4's curvature and grippy pleather made it more comfortable to hold. But the worse part is that the G5 doesn't really feel like it's fully metal.

Though it's not because the phone is actually mostly plastic, like some have suggested, it feels slightly hollow in a way an iPhone 6s or HTC 10 never does.

I managed to scratch off some paint while it was just sitting in my bag with my keys. My fault, but also not a good sign.

Of course, LG hasn't always been known for building the most beautiful devices, or even for having a consistent design ethos. But at least they felt like they were trying to be unique.

The G5's lack of polish betrays the fact that this is the company's first metal phone; I actually would've preferred something more in line with the eccentric design of the V10 or the G Flex 2's extreme-but-useful curvature. I'd even argue that the G5 looks and feels less premium than the plastic-and-pleather G4.

But those modules!

Now of course some of those design choices are because of the detachable modules, or 'Friends' as LG calls them (*sighs*).

The most notable of these is the replaceable battery, which for the first time solves the problem of irreplaceable batteries on all-metal phones.

That's why it's unfortunate that LG doesn't include a replaceable battery with the G5 by default; it's a stand out feature that average consumers won't be bothered to use because they won't buy an extra battery. At least some carriers have had the initiative to include one, along with a dedicated charging cradle.

The gap between the detachable module and the rest of the phone i s a bit distracting.

Aside from the standard battery module, there are two other Friends currently available: a Hi-Fi Bang & Olufsen audio module complete with its own DAC, and a camera grip with extra buttons an additional 1,200 mAh battery. LG didn't make either available for this review.

LG says it's working with third party manufacturers to create more modules, but who knows whether any of those will actually come to fruition. I hope LG at least makes the Friends compatible with future G-series phones, but given the company's track record, that seems unlikely.

Still, at least having the option for customizability is pretty awesome, not to mention replacing your battery after its capacity drops in a year or two. That's something no other metal smartphone can claim.

Display woes

First, the good stuff. At 5.3 inches and QHD resolution, the display has a 577 ppi pixel density, and viewing angles are great, with no rainbowing from the IPS LCD panel.

It gets really bright too, which makes it fairly easy to read in sunlight – noticeably more than its predecessor. Contrast is also good for an LCD panel, though it's obviously nowhere as good as an OLED screen.

Unfortunately LG – a company that specializes in making displays – managed to make the worst display on a flagship phone this generation for a single reason: the color temperature is way too cold, with a distractingly blue-green hue.

Samsung Galaxy S7, Lg G5, Nexus 6P. The G5's display is drastically cold compared to almost any high end display nowadays.

LG has tended towards cooler displays than other manufacturers in the past, but I can't remember the last time I saw a panel so blatantly bluish compared to everything else out there. And unlike the HTC 10, which has a better panel to start,there's no tool to adjust the color saturation or color temperature.

It fares decently when your ambient color temperature is already fairly cool – the noon day sun, fluorescent lighting, or cloudy mornings – but even then is still noticeably bluer than most displays.

Basically, it feels like the G5 is never capable of making a true white color, even after a couple of weeks of using the phone. Maybe LG was just trying to be different, but it's just jarring. The display alone is enough for me to question recommending the phone.

Using it

Like Samsung, LG has redesigned its UI for its latest generation of devices. Unlike Samsung, I'm not sure it's for the better.

While I actually quite like Samsung's new light blue color scheme, LG is using this wireframe black-on-white look that kind of reminds me of a Mac from the 90s.

That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the aforementioned cool display. It makes the entire UI look worse. For example, the entire settings menu and notifications sheet take on this pale blue-gray look in use that just looks very meh.

The extensive white used in LG's new UI looks like more like a cool teal on the G5's screen.

The customizations are also all around less useful than Samsung's. There's no one-handed mode to be found, and LG has removed the ability to use apps in split screen or windows mode.

That might be because Google is baking those features into Android N, but I missed them during my review period, and LG isn't the fastest at issueing OS updates.

But – and this is an important 'but' – the software doesn't seem to slow down the phone at all. While my Samsung S7 feels no faster than my Nexus 6P, the G5 is slightly faster than either in side-by-side comparisons.

Whether switching apps, playing games, navigating maps, or scrolling through the Web, there seemed to be no way of significantly slowing the device down. And this is despite the fact that the G5 and S7 have identical processors, and that both of my review models came pre-loaded with AT&T software.

Also, one software tweak I do like: LG lets you pull down the notification sheet from the navigation bar, which makes the phone infinitely more useful on the go. Other manufacturers, take note.

Two cameras really are better than one

Here's one thing LG did really well: the G5 has the best camera setup of any smartphone, and it all comes down to that second camera. We've gotten used to the typical wide-angle lenses of our smartphones; the ultra wide-angle lens on the G5's second shooter allows you to capture much more of a scene.

The standard 16 megapixel cameraThe ultra wide-angle camera captures much more of the scene from the same spot. Just be careful; the field of view makes it easy to get your fin ger in the frame.

That means no wasting time with a panorama and bad stitching, no stepping back to fit the entirety of that building in your photo, no hurting your friend's feelings because you couldn't fit them in the group photo. Just toggle the wide-angle camera from the main shooting UI, and you're good to go.

It makes shooting with the G5 the most fun I've had using a smartphone camera in years. There's a reason professional photographers tend to carry multiple lenses around: they provide different perspective and can completely change the nature of a scene.

The G6's main shooter does a goo d job with macros with smooth bokeh.

Sure, the second shooter is 'only' 8 megapixels, there's a fair bit of fish-eye distortion, and the main camera is slightly worse than Samsung's new sensor and lens combo, but none of that really matters. The G5 is more versatile and the quality is more than good enough with either camera.

The rest of it is typical Android smartphone fare: RAW photos, manual controls, laser autofocus and 4K video. The UI is largely unchanged from the G4 and V10, but it didn't need much changing.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: pick up a G5, and you can take wide-angle pho tos that simply aren't possible on any other smartphone out there, at least not without inconvenient panorama stitching.

That alone makes the G5 a more versatile photography tool than anything else on the market. You can be assured other manufacturers will follow suit (looking at you, Apple).

Battery

Battery life was a resounding 'pretty decent'. I get a bit over 3 hours screen-on time in my typical heavy usage, and could mostly last until the night without an issue. Quick Charge 3.0 also means the battery can recharge very quickly, although it's worth noting for some reason LG only includes a Quick Charge 2.0 adapter in the box.

I don't think anyone will be complaining much about battery life overall, and it seems better than what I got from my G4 anyway.

But on the other hand, you're still settling for less: the S7 and HTC 10 offer bigger batteries with smaller screens, and that's been reflected in their excellent longevity so far, which are able to get in the 4+ hours of screen-on time range.

The replaceable battery is a compromise in quantity over flexibility.

And yet neither of those phones will let me pop in a second, fully charged battery within 30 seconds of the prior one dying. I thought it was one of those nice-to-have features I'd never actually use, it turns out I've used it every single time my G5 has run out of charge, and it's quickly become my second favorite thing about it, behind the camera.

Too bad the extra battery and charger isn't included by default, even if it would've brought up the price point a bit.

Potential, disappointment, and resignation

I've never had more trouble reviewing a device than with the G5.

It was supposed to be the holy grail for Android power users: all-metal design, expandable storage, top-notch specs and a removable battery. It even kept the IR blaster (which I still use, thank you very much).

I admire LG for being pretty much the only flagship manufacturer still delivering all the traditional power-user features. If you need all of those things, then the G5 is the phone for you.

Unfortunately for everyone else, the execution is so disappointing. While Samsung, HTC, Apple and and others seem to have refined their smartphone designs to something nearing perfection, the G5 feels distinctly like a work in progress. It's like LG was trying so hard to get ahead of the game that it forgot to get some of the basics right.

But lest this review end on too negative a note, let me clarify that I think the G5 is a good device that had the potential to be great somewhere in its design process. It just happens to have come out in a year with the toughest smartphone competition ever, and good isn't good enough.

Here's to hoping LG keeps all of the G5's best ideas and gets the rest right with the G6.

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Source: LG G5 Review: When innovation meets lazy design